With his unique delivery and triple-digit velocity, there is no question that Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Justin Lawrence has captured the attention of baseball fans around the world.
Based on what we saw in spring training and what we’ve heard about him for years now, we predicted before the season began that Lawrence would make his MLB debut for the Colorado Rockies in 2021. Now, he’s here and he’s making his presence felt.
Let’s look at the three nastiest pitches thrown by Colorado Rockies reliever Justin Lawrence.
Now that he has made two appearances during the series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks, it’s time to take a look at why Pitching Ninja has called him “everyone’s favorite new relief pitcher.” After all, look at the entire package, from getting his signs from the catcher to delivery of the ball to where the ball actually ends up thanks to movement.
Watch the video below. You’ll see the first pitch Lawrence throws in the montage is one of the three nastiest that we’ve seen Lawrence throw so far this season.
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Let’s face it, that’s just not fair to Eduardo Escobar. The five previous pitches have all been sinkers that between 97.4 and 99.7 mph. Now, Lawrence chooses to finish him off with a slider that seems to start over the middle or inside of the plate and ends up making catcher Dom Nuñez slide almost behind Escobar’s legs to bring it in.
You can see the movement in detail from BaseballSavant.com at this link. Note where the yellow ball starts from delivery and ends up as Escobar tries to make contact.